THE POLITICS OF MARIJUANA

On Feb. 15, 2000, Oak Bay police in suburban Victoria paid a visit to
the Vancouver Island Compassion Society offices. Here is their Report
to Crown Counsel:

"Const. Tim Henderson met with Philippe Lucas and Colleen O'Neill at
the premises of the VICS. On entering the office, Const. Henderson was
struck by the clean and friendly atmosphere, and observed that there
were potted plants around the place, a large selection of reading
materials dealing with herbal and homeopathic remedies and treatments,
various diseases and support organizations.

"There was a fresh pot of coffee and a water cooler available for
clients, and there was a popular music radio station playing in the
background somewhere.

"The place had the ambience and appearance of a medical treatment
clinic. The process of referral and screening was described --
clients must provide medical proof by means of a certificate, of one
of several medical conditions, including cancer, AIDS, hepatitis,
glaucoma, MS or fibromyalgia. The referrals are confirmed with the
issuing practitioner, and the client goes through an assessment and
receives an explanation of a service agreement that they must sign and
comply with."

As Philippe Lucas says: "If we were a restaurant, this would be
considered a good review." And on Dec. 21, 2000, Health Minister Allan
Rock said in a statement, "Canada is acting compassionately by
allowing the use of marijuana by people who are suffering from grave
and debilitating illness. This marijuana will be made available to
people participating in structured research programs, and to
authorized Canadians using it for medical purposes who agree to
provide information to my department for monitoring and research purposes."

Yeah, right. In November last year, Lucas went to the police in Oak
Bay to report a break-in. Someone had stolen about a pound and a half
of marijuana, $400 in cash and 30 white chocolate and cranberry
cannabis cookies from the VICS -- a nonprofit organization that buys
marijuana to be used by its members for medicinal purposes. He
expected a little compassion. The cops? They raided his office, and
charged him with possession for the purpose of trafficking and with
trafficking.

And the tremendously consistent federal government announced last year
- -- a month after busting Philippe Lucas -- that it had chosen a
Saskatoon company to provide Canada with a legal supply of marijuana
for medical and research purposes. "A Canadian source of
research-grade marijuana is essential to move forward on our research
plan," Minister Rock announced. In a further development worthy of
Monty Python, Prairie Plant Systems, under the $5.75-million,
five-year contract, will have the pot grown, processed and packaged
several hundred metres underground in an unused portion of a copper
mine near Flin Flon, Man. (home town of hockey pit bull Bobby Clarke).
We can't be too careful.

Philippe Lucas, who was born in Quebec, was 12 years old when he
tripped while playing tag with his buddies, fell on a jagged rock and
ruptured his spleen. A blood transfusion, thanks to our disgraceful
tainted blood scandal, left him with the dreaded Hep C. He is now 31,
a handsome blond, an ever-cheerful sort. He has sunk his life savings
- -- such as they are for one so young -- into his shop, which is
$18,000 in debt.

"It's our medicine," he explains, stating with obvious truth that if
he is shut down, his 141 members will be tossed into the street market
run by criminals, where it is now about $2,500 a pound for Grade A
indoor organic marijuana.

The Liberal government is in -- not unusual -- a complete mess over
this situation. A Compas survey in May of 2000 found that 92 per cent
of Canadians feel medicinal marijuana should be legalized. And a
perhaps-surprising 69 per cent favour decriminalizing cannabis. The
pointy-headed judges of the legal profession seem, sort of, to agree
- -- at least advising that the government doesn't know what it is doing.

In Alberta, Justice Darlene Acton of the Court of Queen's Bench in
December ruled the law prohibiting the cultivation of marijuana is
unconstitutional as it doesn't recognize medicinal necessity for
cannabis. In keeping with an Ontario Court of Appeals ruling, she
gave Parliament 12 months to rewrite legislation allowing cultivation
for legitimate medicinal cannabis users.

You would think this Liberal party, with its third successive majority
government, could deal with a problem -- such as Philippe Lucas, who
was to appear this week in B.C. provincial court -- with some logic.
You would be wrong.